Click! Click! Click! Click!
The sound of cara shutters could be heard from all around.
It even seed like soone was already filming a video.
To be honest, even soone who knew nothing could feel that sothing huge was happening.
The air around those two people was incredibly heavy.
To a normal person who couldn’t see qi, it would appear as if the space around them was warping.
“It’s been a while, Ivan. Has it been almost 10 years?”
“Yeah, it’s been a while. Fuma Kotaro. You’ve certainly grown more radiant since the last ti I saw you.”
It was a sarcastic remark, mocking his shabby appearance, but Fuma Kotaro nodded as if he believed Ivan was sincerely complinting him.
“I’ve been living as a hermit in the mountains for 10 years, so it’s only natural.”
“…You’ve been hiding for the past 10 years, so why have you suddenly shown up now?”
Then Fuma Kotaro glanced at and spoke aningfully.
“I have personal matters to take care of. Once I’m done, I’ll return to the mountains, so don’t worry too much about it.”
Wait a minute. That ans you’re drawing all the attention to .
But it was already like spilled water—there was no going back.
Ivan’s gaze turned towards , who was standing behind him.
“Kim Yu-seong…? Why are you here?”
“Uh, well, you see, it’s kind of…”
“This guy is my successor.”
Fuma Kotaro cut off, pointing at , as if to say he wouldn’t allow any excuses.
“Successor?”
Ivan’s eyes glead as if he had just heard sothing amusing.
“When I saw you last, you were hanging around with Fuma’s daughter. Did things get… serious in the anti?”
“Well, it’s a bit complicated if I were to explain…”
I was about to clarify the misunderstanding, but Fuma Kotaro interrupted.
“Rather than that, shouldn’t we move? It looks like a lot of people are watching.”
“Hmm? Ah, you’re right.”
As if noticing the gathered crowd for the first ti, Ivan took out his phone and made a call.
Soon, gasps could be heard from all around.
“What the?! Why did my phone suddenly stop working?!”
“This is crazy! I just bought it two months ago!”
It was likely that, just like last ti, an EMP had been triggered around us.
Talk about fast action.
“Follow , Fuma Kotaro. I won’t allow you to escape.”
“Hmm. Even after all this ti, you’re still as forceful as ever, Ivan.”
“Nonsense.”
Ivan, dismissing Fuma Kotaro’s easygoing nature in a single word, took him in the passenger seat of his sports car and drove off.
After the two of them left, the disinterested crowd began to disperse, and Rika, who had watched the entire fight with a nervous expression, cautiously approached . ⱤÅ𝐍ÖＢЁ𝙎
“Ryu-chan, what exactly just happened?”
…It seed like I was going to get ho late today.
Instead of heading to the subway station, we changed our destination and went into a nearby fast food restaurant.
Rika and I ordered so fries and sat in a quiet corner on the second floor.
After hesitating for a mont, I spoke.
“Rika, did you know that there’s sothing called the underworld?”
“…The underworld?”
I nodded and spoke.
“It’s a world completely separate from the one normal people live in. It’s a place where people like hitn, ninjas, samurai, and martial artists—people you’d only find in manga—actually exist.”
Rika listened to and laughed as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Ryu-chan, you’re not being serious, are you? No matter how much I like manga, I’m not falling for such a lie.”
“……”
When I stayed silent and looked at her seriously, Rika, who had been half-doubting , swallowed and asked again.
“Is it real?”
“It’s real.”
To be honest, if Fuma Kotaro, Senior Fuma’s father, hadn’t suddenly attacked, I wouldn’t be explaining things like this.
But since we had already fought, and I had no excuse left, I had no choice but to reveal the truth like this.
Rika, who seed to be in denial of reality, ran her hands over her face after hearing my confirmation.
Well, if a close friend suddenly asked about the underworld out of nowhere, I would probably feel exhausted too.
Wanting to be considerate of Rika, I was about to tell her she could head ho for the day…
“That’s amazing!”
But her reaction was completely different from what I expected.
“Huh?”
“You’re saying that a world people have only imagined actually exists! So, do ghosts or yokai exist too?!”
“Huh? Uh, yeah.”
I couldn’t keep up with the flow of the conversation and ended up stamring.
I thought Rika would be confused, not thrilled.
“Aweso! Next ti, you have to show !”
“No, those kinds of things aren’t sothing you can see just because you want to…”
“Then, that long-haired guy and Sasha’s father we saw earlier—are they connected to the underworld, too? Hurry and tell !”
Hearing Rika’s barrage of questions, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Even though I was talking about sothing serious, seeing Rika so excited left feeling a bit deflated.
‘Well, I guess it’s a good thing.’
I decided to think positively and continued explaining the underworld to Rika.
The place Ivan took Fuma Kotaro to after their brief drive in the sports car was the East Star Association mansion.
“Thanks for the car, Tojo.”
“I’m glad it helped.”
After returning the car key, Ivan sat down with Fuma Kotaro on the cushions, and Tojo Naoto greeted them both with a polite bow.
Ivan Romanov and Fuma Kotaro.
They were figures so renowned in the underworld that there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know their nas.
The Seven Powers.
They were the absolute apex, with only seven such individuals in the world.
Tojo Naoto, who had been an avid fan of GOF (God of Fist), felt overwheld eting the two legends who had dominated the pri era of the 1st to 4th GOF tournants.
No matter how powerful a Yakuza leader he was in eastern Japan, he paled in comparison to the reputations of these two.
Fuma Kotaro, who had been half-dragged to the East Star Association mansion by Ivan, sat down on the cushion and asked.
“So, what’s the reason you dragged all the way here, Ivan?”
Ivan wrinkled his nose and spoke.
“You’re asking an obvious question, Fuma Kotaro. Of course, it’s to settle the score.”
“What? Why do sothing like that?”
“Because you beat and then disappeared.”
Fuma Kotaro waved his hand dismissively and replied.
“Don’t talk nonsense. My pri has long passed. If we fought now, I couldn’t even last 100 rounds before losing to you.”
“Yet you fought pretty well against Kim Yu-seong.”
“Huh? How do you know I fought him?”
“When I arrived, Kim Yu-seong’s qi was all over the place, unlike you, who seed perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened.”
“Hmm—well, if that’s the reason, then I guess it can’t be helped.”
Acknowledging it calmly, Fuma Kotaro half-closed his eyes and asked Ivan.
“Why are you so determined to fight ? I only beat you by sheer luck.”
“Don’t belittle the technique you created by calling it luck. Or are you saying I’m the kind of person who would lose to luck?”
“That’s… not it.”
Just as Ivan acknowledged Fuma Kotaro as a rival, Fuma Kotaro also respected Ivan’s skill.
“So fight again, Fuma Kotaro. And this ti, I’ll wipe away the humiliation of my past defeat.”
Hearing Ivan’s words, Fuma Kotaro scratched his chin with his fingers and spoke.
“Well, I can understand how you feel, but…”
“Honestly, though, I don’t feel like fighting right now… So how about this? Instead of fighting , you can fight my successor, Kim Yu-seong.”
“What…?”
“I tested him earlier, and even though he’s self-taught, he handled Hayate so perfectly it was hard to believe. With a bit of training, he’d easily surpass my pri. Wouldn’t defeating soone like him be more satisfying than beating soone like , who’s grown weaker over the years?”
“Are you trying to avoid the fight, Fuma Kotaro?”
“I’m not like you, Ivan. I’m not the type to risk my life over fights. The only reason I kept participating in GOF was to increase my market value.”
“…Disappointing. To think I once considered soone like you my rival.”
“It’s an honor to hear you thought of that way.”
Ivan, who had been glaring at Fuma Kotaro with narrowed eyes, sighed softly and stood up.
“Well, fine. I was planning on fighting Kim Yu-seong again anyway. I’ll make sure you clearly see Hayate, which you’re so proud of, get completely destroyed.”
One of Kim Yu-seong’s strengths was his durability.
During their last fight, Ivan had experienced Kim Yu-seong’s extraordinary defense firsthand, so he had implanted nanomachines into his body in preparation.
To fight on equal footing with Kim Yu-seong, that is.
Crack!
As he clenched his fist, the nanomachines inside his body responded, hardening his skin.
“With the hands of this God of Destruction.”
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